Automatic speed-changing mechanism.



L E. STYERS.

AUTOMATIC SPEED CHAJGINGMECHANISM.

APPLICATION FlLED FEB. 19,1917L l lyQLQA- iat/eluted Jim. nl, M9.

3 SHEETS-SHEEI ATTORNEY M I. E. STYEHS.

AUTOMATIC SPEED CHANGING IVIECHANISN.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19, |917.A

Patented Jam. 14, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOREY L E. STYEHS.

AUTOMATXC SPEED CHANGING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION HLED FEB. i9, 19HA W/TA/ESSESI 5 n m H ,in W W Rf M m mw Tun W mcd ww E w f mm 1 W w anniv" n.. srr'nns, or snarr'tnywasnrneiroiv.,

tpccitication or Letters traitent.

aanname niet rennen? is, ieri. senat iraniana.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that Il, donn 1E. drrnns, a citizen oit the 'United States, 'residing at Seattle9v in the county ot hing and @tate ot Washington, have inventeda new and useful improvement in Automatic Speed# Changing Mechanism, ot which the i'ollowing is a specitication. p

rllhis invention relatesto improvements in variahle speed automatic power transmis- 'sions and the object ot this improvement is to provide a power transmission that may he interposed between a driving and a driven shait and is adapted `to automatically vary the gear ratio between the two shatts in speed oit" rotation `oit the driving shatt and automatically acts on tle mechanism that transmits the power to vary the gear ratio.

llt is a `well known tact that the maiiimum eiliciency ot an engine is olotained at a cer-` tain predetermined speed and that when."

suoli engine is turning at a greater or lessA speedits eihciency is reduced. This trans mission is so constructed as to automatically vary the gear ratio hetween the engine `drive shatt and the driven shait that conengine lies hetween 950 and liti@ revolutions per minute then this transmissionv will he so adjusted as to increase the' gear ratio or shiitt to lower gear when the speed otthey engine vtalle helow 950 revolutionsper min-` j ute and to reduce vthe gear ratio or shilt to higher gear when the speed 'oit the engine Y Y `ally ot 'the wheel and serve as a support tor CUiilu.

enceeds i100 revolutions per minut/e.,

'ilhe .invention consists inthe novel "struction, adaptation, and comloination `oit e parts as will he moreclearly descinhedin the commonly :tollowing speciiica'tiony illustrated in the aci companying drawings and hnally pointed out in the appended claims.

ln the accompanying drawings Figure l is a plan view oit a transmission constructed in accordance with this invention certain parts heing hrolren away to more clearly 2l is a view in end' elevation oit the device shown in lig., l; ltig. 3 is tragmentary plan view illustrating'a 4variation in the torni oit" construction ol" eapansihle pulleys emloodied accordance with this invention; lig. 5 is a sectional view on hrolren line 5, 5 oit' the Vpulley shown Vin litigi. l and high ,is a view in which 4lilte -reterence numerals indicate lilie parts the numeral l@ lindicates a driving `shaitt that may he connected with an engine, v il indicates a counter shatt and l2 indicatesl a driven'shatt that may he connected with the ditterential et a motor vehicle..

asuitahle trame worh i3 which may taire the torna ot-a gear hon onda motor car it desired.v lat is an eirpansihle pulley that is secured on the drive vshalt-l5 is a similar pulley that.

issecured on the driven shaiit and it and li' are similar ulleys that are secured on the counter sha t at points directly opposite the pulleys lland lo respectively.,

iii isl a chain that is disposed Von the pulleys ll and it' and i9 'is a similar chain that is disposed onthepnlleys l5 and lt so -that when the drive shalt l@ is rotated the chain l@ will drive the counter shalt ll and p the chain l@ will drive the drivensha'lt la.

llt isohvious that hy varyingthe elitective worlnng diameters ol"` the several pulleys` Patented dan iid, Qldiltt titl reveal the construction ot other parts; ltig. 'i

dit

in the invention ,f liig. l is an enlarged plan lview ot one oit the pulleys constructed in elevation'ot one ol2 the cone shaped members.,

ldeterring to the drawings throughout lid titi

the' gear ratio hetween the drive shal't le and dricven shatt ll may he varied.

'lhestructure oilthe tour pulleys it, lo?A lo 'and il? identical, eachv ot such pulleys comaistingv oi'D huh memhers having integrally 4termed radial guides @il vthat are nio spaced apart totit within slots. 2i in wheel f enpansion sections 22 that are movahle radi lllli e The expansion sections 22 are moved radially of the pulleys by links 23 pivoted as at 24 to integral lugs ron the sections 22 and articulated at their outer ends with slidable collars 25 on the respective shafts.

As the collars 25 are moved toward the hub of the pulleys the sections 22 are moved outward radially of the pulleys and the pulleys are expanded and as the collars are moved away from the hubs of the wheels the sections are moved radially inward and the pulleys are contract-ed.

The collars 25 are moved endwise on their respective shafts by gear wheels 26 whose hub portions are threaded yas at 27 and adapted to screw onto worms or screw threads 28 on studs 29 that are fxedly secured to the frame.

One of the gear wheels 26 is disposed at each end of each pulley and such wheels are mounted on left and right hand threads respectively so that when both wheels are turned in the same direction they will both move toward or away from the pulley located therebetween.

rThe gear wheels 26 on the counter shaft 12 are located substantially opposite the gear wheels on the drive shaft 10 and driven shaft 11 and are each threaded on oppositely directed threads; for instance if the gear to the right hand side of the pulley 14 "on the drive shaft, as viewed in Fig. 1, is

mounted on a left hand thread then the gear to the right hand side of the pulley 16 is mounted on a right hand thread.

The gear wheels 26 are rotated on their threaded hubs by pinions 30 on a shaft 31 that is journaled in the frame 13 and rotated as hereinafter described.

The pinions 30 each engage two oppositely disposed gear wheels and are of sufficient length so that the gear wheels will not move past their ends when such gear wheels are moved lengthwise with respect to the pinions.

Ball bearings 32 and compression springs 33 are interposed between the hubs of the gear wheels 26 and the collars 25 and serve to transmit the thrust from the hubs of the gear wheels 26 to the pulleys. The ball .bearings 32 are herein illustrated somewhat diagrammatically.

From the above description it is obvious that when the shaft 31 is rotated in one direction the pulley 14 will be contracted, the pulley 16 will be expanded, the pulley 17 will be contracted and the pulley 15 will be expanded and when the shaft 31 is rotated in the opposite direction the con tracting and expanding of the several pulleys will be directly opposite.

35 are cams that are disposed in pairs on opposite sides of the expansion members 22 and pivoted as at 36 so that they will grasp and hold the chains 18 or 19 as they take onto the wheels, and easily release such chains as they lea-ve the wheels.

The inner bottom portions of the cams 35 are provided with shoulders 37 that are adapted to be engaged by the inner face of thel chain thus insuring that the cams will grasp the side of the chain and the centers of gravity of the cams are located at an angle to the radius of rotation of the wheels so that the cams will always stand outward as shown on one side of the pulley 16, Fig. 1, when the cams are not in engagement with the chains.

38 is a parabolic governor that is mounted on the driving shaft 10 to rotate therewith and is connected with a slidable sleeve sol 39 that o crates a'ainst a com v)ression p c l i spring 40.

The sliding sleeve 39 is splined to the shaft 10 and is provided with two cone shaped friction gears 41 and 42 that are adapted in their turn and when the sleeve 39 is in certain positions to engage opposite sides of a friction disk 43 it being impossible for both of the friction gears 41 and 42 to engage the disk 43 at the same time. A, d.

The disk 43 is mounted on a shaft 44 that is suitably journaled in the frame and carries a worm 45 that engages a worm wheel 46 on the shaft 31 so that the shaft 31 may be rotated by turning the disk 43.

The end of the shaft 31 is threaded as at 47 and has a nut or collar 48 screwed thereon.

rThe nut 48 is pivotally connected by a slot and pin connection with one end of a yoke 50 whose other end is connected by a pivot 51 with the sliding governor sleeve 39.

52 is a compression spring that tends to hold the disk 43 outwardly in contact with the friction gears 41 and 42 and 53 is a lever arm having one end pivoted as at, 54 to a fixed support and its other end provided with a notch 55 for the engagement of a roller 56 in the yoke 50.

The lever arm 53 extends crosswise of the shaft 44 and is connected by a slot and pin connection 57 with the shaft 41 or disk 43 in such manner that. the disk 43 may be moved toward or away from the friction gears 41 and 42 without interfering with the rotation of such shaft.

Fig. 1 shows the mechanism in the low gear position. As the speed of the driving shaft increases the governor sleeve 39 will be moved toward the right and the roller 56 will be moved opposite the slotl in the lever arm 53 and will permit such lever arm and the friction disk 43 to move toward the driving shaft until the disk 43 engages the friction gear 42 and is rotated thereby thus rot-ating the shaft 44 which acts through the worm 45 and worm wheel 46 to rotate the shaft 31, the direction of rotation of the sev rattan.

i rotation of the shaft 3l will expand pulleys llll lt and l'l' and contract p'ulleys f6 and l5 thus lessening the gear ratio or shifting to a higher gear.

lWhen the shaft Blrotates as indicated the nut 4:6 will be moved outwardly on the screw thread t? until the roller 56 engages the outer inclined end of the notch '55 and by moving over such surface moves the outer end of the lever arm 53 away from the driving shaft l0' and withdraws theifriction dish f3 from engagement with the friction gear 4t2 thereby stopping the rotation of the shaft at,

its vthe Speed of rotation of the driving shaft l0 decreases after a high speed has been attained the sleeve 39 will move to the left and the roller 56 will again move oppor. site the notch 55 thus permitting the friction dislr t3 to drop into engagement with the friction gear all and rotate theshaft lll, worm f5, worm wheel t6, shaft 6l and gear wheels 26 in a direction opposite to that int dicated by the arrows thus contracting pulleys 1t and i7 `and expanding pulleys l6 and l5.

ln ffigs. 8 to 6 inclusive l have illustrated a form of expansion pulleys that are preferable to the forms shown in Fig. l for the reason that they are more compact and will occupy less space.

lfhese pulleys each comprise two cone'l shaped members 60 that are splined onto their shafts and are formed on their smaller ends with alternate recesses and prongs 6l and 62 respectively whereby they are adapted to telescope into each other so that the circumference measured on the line of their intersecting planes will be increased as the cones are moved toward each other and decrease as the cones are moved away from each other.

'lwo of the cone members 60 form a pulley and the pulleys arey arranged in the same manner as the pulleys lll, l5, 16 and l'l' shown in ltig. l and are connected with the same mechanism for moving the cones lengthwise of the shafts tha-t the collarspl of lFig. l are connected with.

63 are chains that normally, ride on the peripheries of the cones 60 at the point of intersection thereof such chains being held to prevent slipping by cams 64e that are of similar shape to the cams 35 and are pivoted in angular saddles 65 that lie within recesses 66 in the cone members so that they are-flush with the surface thereof.

'lhe recesses 66 are l. shaped in cross section and are formed in the edges of two adjacent prongs 62 so that the Saddles 65 lie half within each prong and slide within the recesses as the cone members are moved toward or away from each other.

The saddles may be secured to the cone shaped members by pins 67 located at 'the verter of each saddle and projecting within the l.m shaped slots 66.

'lwo of the saddles 65 will preferably be used on each pulley although in some instances it may be desirable to use a greater number. A

llt is understood that the scope of this inv Vvention is not limited to the enact constructions shown and described but that changes in thc form of mechanism used to perform the various functions may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims.

What ll claim and desire to protect by liet- .ters Patent is:

l. 'lhe combination with a motor vehicle sov having a driving shaft and a driven shaft of a power transmission connecting said two shafts, said power transmission comprising a series of pulleys of adjustable diameters that are connected with each other by driving chains, means for varying the relative diameters of said pulleys to vary the gear ratio between said two shafts and a governor on said driven shaft to automatically operate said pulley diameter varying means in 'llll response to a change' in the velocity of rotation of said driving shaft.

Q. The combination with a motor vehicle having a driving shaft and a driven shaft,

of a power transmission connecting said two shafts said transmission comprising a series llli of pulleys of adjustable diameters arranged v in pairs, chains connecting the pulleys of each pair, cams on said pulleys for engaging and holding said chains, means for varying the relative diameters of said pulleys whereby when thel diameter of one pulley is increased the diameter of the opposite pulley will be decreased,and governor mechanism on said driven' shaft for automatically op erating said pulley diameter varying means in response to a change in the velocity of rotation of said driving shaft.

6; 'llhe combination with a driving shaft and. a driven shaft,`of pulleys of adjustable diameters on each ofy said shafts, a counter shaft, pulleys of adjustable diameters on said counter shaft opposite. each of said rst named pulleys, chains connecting said pulleys on said driven shaft andl said' vdrive shaft respectively with said oppositely lllltl lllll rac llO

disposed pulleys respectively, means for adjusting the diameters-of all of said pulley-s simultaneously said means comprising collars slidable on said shafts, fixedly supported Worms, gear .Wheels having threaded hub portions that screw onto said Worms and engage With said collars,means for turning all of said gear Wheels simultaneously, a governor on said driving shaft, and mechanism connected With said governor for actuating said gear wheel turning means in respense to a variation in the speed of rotation Lof said driving shaft to vary the relative i diameters of said pulleys.

-5. rlhe combination with a driving shaft v and a driven shaft, of pulleys of adjustable Working diameters, mounted on each of said shafts, a counter shaft, pulleys of adjustable Working diameters mounted on said counter shaft opposite said first named pulleys, chain engaging cams on all of said pulvleys, a chain connecting one of saidl counter shaft pulleys with said driving shaft pulley,

another chain connecting said other counter shaft` pulley with said driven shaft pulley, means for varying the diameters of all of said pulleys simultaneously said means comprising collars slidable on said shafts toward and away from said pulleys, Worms Xedly metaal mounted in the line of said shafts, gear Wheels havlng hub portions adapted to screw onto said Worms and engage said collars said gear Wheels being located one on each side of each of said pulleys, pinions to mesh with and turn said gear wheels simultaneously, a shaft for said pinions, a parabolic governor on said driving shaft, and means automatically actuated by said governor for rotating said pinion shaft.

6. rlhe combination with a driving shaft and a driven shaft,'of pulleys having adjustable Working diameters mounted on each of said shafts, each of said pulleys comprising two cone shaped members slotted on their smaller ends to interfit so that when they are moved toward and away from each other their diameter on the line 0f their intersecting surfaces Will be varied, drive chains passing over said pulleys, a governor on said driving shaft and means connected with said governor for automatically adjusting the relative diameters of said pulleys.

Signed by me at Seattle Vlashington, this 6th day of February, 191

` JOHN E. STYERS. Witnesses:

E. B. HERALD, F. C. MATHENY. 

